1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system and a method for monitoring bank notes for the presence of counterfeit bank notes.
2. Description of the Background Art
It happens again and again that counterfeit bank notes are infiltrated in the circulation of bank notes. These counterfeit bank notes so far are recognized, for example, upon receipt of the bank notes by a cashier or by bank note processing machines detecting by means of authenticity verifying sensors whether these are counterfeit bank notes. As a rule, bank notes recognized as forgery or as being suspect of forgery, are separated from the remaining bank notes and are re-examined by a central authority, for example a national or supranational issuing bank or by police authorities. Bank notes confirmed as counterfeit bank notes in such re-examination are then evaluated in order to reveal specific, conspicuous features distinguishing the counterfeit bank note from genuine bank notes. These features will be used later on for being able to recognize forgeries of the same type more easily.
However, in the current monitoring of bank notes for the presence of counterfeit bank notes it has turned out to be especially disadvantageous that the counterfeit bank notes or counterfeit suspect bank notes have to be transported to a central location where they are checked again. This entails a loss of time on the one hand, since features particularly characteristic of the counterfeit bank notes are available for examining additional bank notes only after these features have been obtained at the central location. In addition thereto, this procedure involves high expenditure and costs as comprehensive logistics have to be kept ready in order to ensure rapid and smooth transport of counterfeit bank notes to this central location.